Yesterday, she went up to move some clothing/items around and has found them all damaged by mould. The entire wall was covered in mould and when she has spoken to the LL about it, he has told her that he has never had problems with it before and that she can leave when she pleases!

Now, I'm not a LL but that doesn't seem right to me. She is having the Environmental Health people out to look at it but she is now upset at the loss of her possesions and the fact that it looks like she will need to move.

Can anyone let me know what the usual thing to happen here will be?

I don't know if she has an AST - her husband is the type to not bother with one and I don't know where she stands without it.

Thanks in advance

mariner

01-12-2011, 16:00 PM

"Yesterday, she went up to move some clothing/items around and has found them all damaged by mould. The entire wall was covered in mould"

Went up where? Has the prop been left empty? Clothes will go mouldy all by themself, if left in a closed wardrobe. Was the affected room heated & ventilated?

Snorkerz

01-12-2011, 16:11 PM

The environmental health will look at the specific situation and give advice, but a few observations.

If the property is in England/Wales and the rent is under £100k pa then it is almost certainly an AST - there is no requirement for an AST to be in writing. However, this has no real bearing on the matter in hand though.

If there is a structural fault in the property that has caused the moisture to gather in the wardrobe then the EHO will give instruction to the landlord that that must be fixed, and the tenants would have probable cause for compensation - through the courts if necessary. Suing the landlord does not usually result in tenancies continuing for long.

However, such a situation could just as easily happen if a jumper was hung up in the wardrobe when not fully dry - nowhere for the moisture to go so it's a lovely moist environment for the mould spores to develop. Moving does not mean that damp woolies will not be put in the wardrobe of the next place.

FWIW a local 'laundry' may be able to recover most of the 'damaged' items and the interior of the wardrobe can be cleaned with a bleach based spray - Fairy do one.

Seventh

01-12-2011, 16:45 PM

Sorry - I wasn't very specific, was typing it in the few minutes I had before the boss came back!

It was upstairs in her bedroom. They have occupied the property for the past few months. As far as I know, the house is a mid-terrace.

Her clothing and other items are currently being stored on the floor as they moved from a fully furnished property into an unfurnished and are unable to afford wardrobes at the minute.

She has said there is mould throughout the house but this one wall is covered in it. I don't know if its an internal(connected to next house) or external at the minute.

I would assume the rent is under £100k a year. It's not the best of areas.